Over the past several years, there has been a significant increase in the various types of networks that are available to users. For example, home users, who were once restricted to slow dialup modems, have been able to transition to ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) technology, and then to broadband technologies like cable modem and DSL (Digital Subscriber Line). Corporate entities, who once were only able to offer access to their servers through a corporate LAN (Local Area Network), now are able to provide users access to their network through web-based applications and wireless networks like GPRS (General Packet Radio Service).
In addition to the increased variety of networks, there has been a significant increase in the number of existing networks, and thus network availability to users. For example, it is not uncommon for a coffee shop to offer wireless Internet connectivity to its visiting patrons. This combined with the proliferation of mobile computing devices has lead to a variety of operating environments available to a user. Each of the available operating environments has a set of characteristics, which vary from network to network. Characteristics such as bandwidth and latency vary significantly from one network to another. Further, a user's behavior also may vary depending on the operating environment available to the user.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide system flexibility to users depending on the operating environment of the user.